DDoS Attacks Increased by 129% in 2016: Akamai

In the second quarter of 2016, worldwide DDoS attacks increased by 129% from Q2 2015 and a record 276% increase in NTP reflection attacks, according to the 2016 State of the Internet/Security Report released by Akamai Technologies. Akamai mitigated a total of 4,919 DDoS attacks in this period.

Although the attack size fell by 36% to 3.85 Gbps, Akamai said it saw its largest DDoS to date at 363 Gbps on 20 June against a European media customer. 12 attacks observed during Q2 exceeded 100 Gbps and 2 that reached 300 Gbps targeted the media and entertainment industry, said the company.

It also saw an increase in the number of attacks as launch tools continued to grow increasingly pervasive, easy to use and monetise.

As far as web application attack goes, Akamai said the second quarter showed a 14% increase in total attacks from the first 3 months of the year, with Brazil experiencing a 197% increase in attacks sourced from the region. The US, which is ranked second among countries for total web application attacks, saw a 13% decrease in attack numbers compared to the first quarter. SQL Injection (44 percent) and Local File Inclusion (45 percent) were the two most common attack vectors in Q2.